Here Are the CIA's 10 Tips For Investigating UFOs

A couple weeks ago, in celebration of The X-Files' return to television, the CIA released some documents detailing a few of their many UFO investigations, deeming them their own "X-Files". They also put together a pretty extensive list of what the average Joe can do when he spots an unidentified flying object in the sky, showing that they actually take this sort of thing seriously. As they should; remember, UFO doesn't mean aliens, it just refers to an object in the sky that can't be identified. So it makes sense that the government would take an interest in such things. Anyway, in case you want to start your own X-Files division, here are the ten official tips on investigating UFOs, straight from the CIA.

1.

Establish a Group To Investigate and Evaluate Sightings

Presumably, investigating UFOs is dangerous work, so you're going to need some help.

2.

Determine the Objectives of Your Investigation

In the CIA's case, they wanted to determine if UFOs were a national security threat. In Mulder's case, he wanted to know why his sister was abducted. Whatever your reason for looking into the unknown, make sure you know it beforehand.

If your sighting left behind physical evidence, then you're very lucky indeed, but you're job is not over. You need to test everything. Check the area for radiation, search for unexplained metals, check for traces of biological material. Oh, and unless you're a forensic scientist, you're gonna need some help for this step.

10.

Discourage False Reporting

How can we ever learn the truth about UFOs if the field is muddied with false claims? No matter how tempting it is that you've found something, you need to hold off until you're sure that what you've found can't be explained.

So there you have it, everything the CIA recommends for UFO hunters. Of course, following these rules is exactly what the government wants you to do. Cue X-Files theme.